


Everywhere to Me/In the Cold, Cold Night

by themadmage



Series: themadmage's Harry Potter one-shots and standalones [6]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Author is ignoring Peter's existence, Canonical Child Abuse, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Lyall Lupin's A+ Parenting, M/M, Marauders Friendship, Marauders' Era, Slow Burn, The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, challenging internalized beliefs, having support makes it easier though, slightly OOC but with a reason, they are young when the soulbond forms so they're basically just best friends for awhile, you communicate with your soulmate in dreams
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-17
Updated: 2018-04-19
Packaged: 2019-04-24 08:22:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,324
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14351631
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/themadmage/pseuds/themadmage
Summary: Remus Lupin and Sirius Black are soul-bonded in a world where you share lucid dreams with your soulmate. Their bond forms while they are still young children, and their companionship helps them to face the challenges their respective households present.By the time they get to Hogwarts, the boys have a close friendship and healthier self-images than their typical representations. That's not to say that true love fixes everything, but that support and companionship go a long way.





	1. Before

**Author's Note:**

> This work is loosely inspired by two songs. I had Everywhere by Michelle Branch in mind for Remus, and In the Cold, Cold Night by The White Stripes in mind for Sirius.

Not every witch or wizard has a soulmate. Some believe that a soulbond is reserved for the most powerful or worthy, others believe it is pure luck, and still others believe that a soulbond forms for those who need it the most. What is generally agreed upon is that, for those who have a soulmate, both partners will be equally matched and able to help each other in ways no one else can. It is also taken as fact that a soulbond is a sacred gift from Magic, and Magic never makes a mistake with her favor.

\---

Sirius Black was the perfect pureblood heir to the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black. He and his younger brother Regulus were given lessons in etiquette and politics, diction and penmanship, and magical theory from the time they could first walk and talk. Sirius, like all young children, held his parents on a pedestal and believed they could do no wrong. He absorbed their views like a sponge and parroted them back, reveling in Walburga and Orion's praises when he turned up his nose at "filthy mudbloods and half-breeds" and pretended to cast Dark spells.

At night, Sirius and Regulus whispered promises, dreams, and stories to each other in Sirius' bed. They talked about their lessons and the constellations their family members were named for, but their favorite conversations were about soulmates. Both boys hoped and dreamed that they would be judged pure enough by Magic to be blessed with a soulmate, and fantasized about the perfect pureblood women that Magic might choose as their equals.

\---

Remus Lupin was a bubbly and confident child in his toddlerhood. His father Lyall, an employee in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures at the Ministry, taught him about Magic and Hogwarts and his specialty at work - "non-human spirituous apparitions". Remus, at four years old, was very proud to know such words and that they referred to things like poltergeists and boggarts, even if he didn't yet have any wizarding friends he could share that knowledge with. Remus' mother Hope was a muggle, a stay-at-home mother who doted on her child endlessly.

When Remus was five years old, Fenrir Greyback came through his bedroom window and attacked. Remus spent a month in St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries while the Healers worked to knit together the cursed wounds he'd received in a way that would minimize scarring, and gave him potions to help his body adapt to the changes lycanthropy brought. When Remus survived his first full moon as a werewolf, he was released home in the care of Lyall and Hope and he expected things to be okay again.

Lyall no longer taught his son about the magical world, knowing his son would always be an outcast there. He tried to veil the disgust he felt for the creature that replaced his son, but Remus was an observant child. Hope, similarly, failed to conceal the fear and worry she felt when she saw the amber glint in Remus' eyes and gradually distanced herself from him. By the time he was locked in the magically reinforced cage his father had built in the basement of their home, his second full moon, Remus Lupin was no longer a bubbly and confident child. He was fearful and confused.

Remus had once dreamed of having a soulmate, but seeing his parents turn away from him now that he was a werewolf made him sure that Magic would never find someone who could love him and he closed those wishes away.

\---

Magic looked on her children and saw Sirius Black, a boy with a huge capacity for love and acceptance that wasn't being fostered and Remus Lupin, a boy in danger of leaving behind his talents and dreams in the face of loneliness. When Sirius Black and Remus Lupin were six years old, their soulbond formed.


	2. First Contact

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Their first soul dream. All is not smooth sailing.

It was like waking up in a different place than they went to sleep, but not being able to tell where. They could just as easily have been outdoors under the night sky as in a small, featureless room. They couldn't feel the ground beneath their feet, but they weren't falling. It wasn't dark, but there was nothing to see. Both boys instantly recognized the phenomenon as the soul dreams they had read about and longed for.

Sirius was ecstatic. Remus was disbelieving. Then they saw each other.

Now it was Sirius' turn for disbelief and confusion. He had expected to see one of the girls from his family's parties. Not only did he not recognize this person, but he wasn't a girl. "You're not a girl."

"No, I'm not," Remus replied, "But it doesn't much matter seeing how this can't be real."

"I'm pretty sure it's real."

"It can't be. I can't have a soulmate."

"Why not?" Suddenly a thought occurred to Sirius that left him even more scandalized than his soulmate being a boy. "Are you not a pureblood? Because I know sometimes half-bloods manage it, but I always thought-"

"What? No. I mean I'm not, but that's not why. It's not like that matters." Remus fumbled over the words. He was starting to think this might be real. If he were going to dream of a fake soulmate, they wouldn't be anything like this person. And if it were real, there was no way he could tell his soulmate that he was a werewolf.

"It does matter!" Sirius burst out angrily. "I'm an heir, so my soulmate has to be a pureblood like me, and a woman, so that I can have an heir someday too."

"Wow. Okay, wow. You're- wow."

Misunderstanding his soulmate's speechlessness, Sirius preened. "I know I'm impressive, it's okay."

"No, that's not-" Remus paused to collect his thoughts. Becoming a werewolf had made him less confident, but it had made him more careful and precise and he prided himself on his ability to separate his mind from the wolf's impulsiveness. He wouldn't lose that now. "I'm six. So you're probably six too, right?" Sirius nodded, not following. "I've never thought about having kids someday. And I'm pretty sure I'm the normal one here. Because we're six."

"It's my duty to carry on my family line someday. Of course I've thought about it!"

"Most kids wouldn't."

"Well I'm not most kids. I have to be better, because I'm a Black and we're better than other families."

Remus' thoughts stuttered to a halt again. He had heard of the Blacks from his father, but he didn't think his father thought they were better. The opposite, really. Remus didn't understand much of what his father thought of them, but it wasn't complimentary.

Sirius continued talking, undaunted by Remus' internal struggles. "I haven't introduced myself! I'm Sirius Black, heir to the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black." His voice was crisp and pompous, just as he'd been trained. "And you are?"

"R-remus Lupin." Remus' eyes were wide.

"And you're... a half-blood?"

Remus bristled at the disdain in the boy's voice, a level of disdain no six-year-old should have. "Yes."

Sirius muttered to himself under his breath, the least dignified thing Remus had seen from the other boy since this ordeal began. Resolve settled over his features and he faced Remus again. "Soulmates are always equals, so you must be something truly special for a half-blood if you're my equal. It's a pleasure to meet you, Remus Lupin."

Just as Remus was about to make a comment about how he wasn't so special, and Sirius might be better off without him, Sirius faded from view. As suddenly as it began, the dream was over. 

Both boys remembered the dream with perfect clarity, further confirmation that it wasn't a regular dream, and both went about their days with thoughts at the back of their minds that threatened to unravel their carefully constructed worldviews. So they just wouldn't think about them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The boys are probably a bit too mature for six, but they are both in circumstances that have aged them beyond their years. That's my excuse anyways.


End file.
